


Laura

by BlueLights



Category: Marvel (Comics), X-Men (Movieverse)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 08:02:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19719541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueLights/pseuds/BlueLights
Summary: How the new generation of X-kids crossed the border and finally found a safe heaven





	Laura

At first, when Marie sees them safe and sound - albeit tired - relief floods her. She knew that she probably shouldn't have come out to meet them, but the 5 hours journey was well worth it. She would not leave them on their own if she could help it. She hugged a few of them when she felt like they needed it, and even rocked a few of the little ones to sleep ; a little girl had started crying after she had told them who she was. They had decided to set up camp here, and leave in the morning. Rogue had been more than in favour of it ; the last leg of their journey, and the discovery of the compound and its inhabitants would be enough of an emotional and physical drain for anyone ; she wanted the children as well-rested as possible.

She had helped them set up camp, doing small talk. At some point, she had asked if they had anything important to tell her, thinking about injuries, or medical requirements. She was rewarded by a few smiles, a few head shaking, and a boy, who had introduced himself as Rictor once she had reached them, stepped forward, and led her away from the little group to talk to her.

"We lost someone" Rictor said, gaze dark and sorrowful  
Marie couldn't resist the urge anymore, and hugged the child tightly in her arms.

"These men… from the lab… they caught up to us… At first we thought he would stay in the cabin… but…"

Rictor is fighting tears, murmuring the words in a choked up voice against her side.

"Shhhhh… it's ok… you don't have to talk about it right now… Losing a friend is always hard."  
"He wasn't… he wasn't one of us…"

Rictor disentangles himself from Rogue, shakes himself up, before signalling in the air. A little girl, one Marie had been intrigued by as soon as she had met the group, slowly walks to them, assessing the situation with her eyes.

'So much like…' Marie thinks.

Once the little girl reaches them, her eyes widen ever so slightly, before turning into a puzzled gaze, directed towards Marie.

"Her name is Laura" Rictor said "She'll tell you what happened, she knows more than I do… I…"  
"It's fine" Marie answered, her hand back on Rictor's uninjured shoulder.  
"Go take care of them"

Relief was visible on Rictor's face, and, with a nod, he turned around and walked towards his family. After he had gone from hearing range, Laura and Marie turned to one another.

"Hello Laura" said Marie  
"Hello…"  
"Do you mind telling me what happened ?"  
"There was… my daddy."

As with Rictor, Marie instantly went to hug the little girl, feeling her body tense, and visibly relax one she had taken a deep breath into her hair, her arms slowly came up Marie's waist, pulling the older woman even closer. One of Marie's hand slowly came to rest on Laura's head, and she started stroking the little girl's hair, a chuckle escaping her when a sound and rumbling akin to a purr had started.

'So much like him' Marie thought again.

"Your father is Lo… Wolverine"

Just a statement. Not even a question. Laura nodded in her shirt, and tears started to fall.

"Shhh…" Marie had repeated, her hands keeping up with their soothing motion on Laura's back.  
"Where is he now ?"

Laura was silent, almost afraid to speak.

"Did the… Did the lab men capture him ?"  
"No…"

Marie frowned. If the lab people didn't have him, and he knew that Laura was his daughter, then… When realisation dawned on her, Marie froze. She even stopped breathing for a moment, Laura tensing up as she did.

"Where is… where is he ?"  
"By a lake… under the shade of the trees"  
"What happened ?"  
"He didn't… he didn't heal"

Water had started to fall on Marie's hands. She looked up, and realised that is was not rain, but her tears. Laura had raised her gaze towards Marie, a puzzled look on her.

"I'm… I'm sorry" Marie said, still frozen in place. "I can't… I can't…"

She let go of Laura and dropped to her knees, her hands grabbing the earth to anchor herself.

'Breathe in… breathe out… breathe in…' Marie thought, trying to make her body comply to what her mind said. When her vision wasn't blurry with tears anymore, she looked up to the little girl in front of her, a smile on her tear streaked face.

"He saved you, didn't he ?"

Laura nodded again, confused by the woman's reaction when her body started to shake.

"How ironic is it… He stopped healing… and I can't stop"

Laura cocked her head, looking at Marie in wonder.

"I… your father and I… we were together for a long time" Marie said. "Even before I could control my skin. He… He saved me, too, more than once… Let me hurt him so I could heal myself…"

Marie slowly took her hunting knife from its holster in her thigh, and cut her forearm, the skin healing almost instantly. Laura had growled the whole time, and had raised Marie's arm to her, sniffing at the skin, little whimpers wordlessly begging her to not do it again.  
They hugged each other, falling in a comfortable embrace on the floor, both of them mourning the loss of a father, and a lover.

After a while, and both of them had calmed down, Laura spoke up.

"I don't… I don't have a mother"  
"What do you mean ?"  
"The doctors… I asked about my mother, once, and they said… they said I didn't have one".  
"Honey…"  
"They said the woman who had me wasn't my mom. They put me inside of her, and after I was born they killed her. But she wasn't my mamma."

Fear surged through Marie, memories of a few months spent in a lab surfacing.

"I told you to run Marie !"  
"And I told you I wouldn't leave you !"

Logan, by her side, fighting back to back, in a deadly choreography. Logan's presence fading, her head getting heavier as more and more darts were shot at her… Grabbing his hand, before waking up with him in a cell, her smaller form gathered on his lap, his sad smile when she woke up, and the flaring of his nostrils when he heard them. His screams, when they put him down and took her away, everyday, before he was strapped to a gurney and wheeled to another part of the compound. Her tears, when she realised what they were doing. His whimpers when she was thrown back into the cell, his hands going over her injuries, hers going to the new patches of skin on his body.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"  
"I was… Your father and I were in a lab together, years ago… They had caught us after a mission gone wrong. They… harvested both of us at some point."

Once again, Laura raised her gaze towards Marie, who had drifted off into her memory.

"He forced me to absorb him after that, saying the healing factor would take care of the damage."

Marie focused her haze back on Laura, hands going through the little girl's hair. Looking at her even more intently that she had before. She closed her eyes, accessing the super senses Logan had given her, and smelled the girl. As she tuned the senses again, Marie opened her eyes.

"When we'll be back at the bunker, I'll need you to be even more of a brave girl. We have to… I'd like to know, for sure…"

Laura looked at Marie, confused.

"Know what ?"  
"Know if you're just Logan's daughter… or mine too"

Laura nodded, and at the same time Rictor yelled that dinner was ready. Marie and Laura stood up, and walked towards the group, hands in hands.

Marie was still the source of comfort of a few children, and was often silently asked for reassurance, in the form of a hug, a hand on a shoulder, a smile…

While the older kids were washing the remnants of their dinner, Marie put the younger children to bed. She had brought a couple of tents and blankets with her, knowing their little group might not have them, and she was happy she brought the bigger ones : the children seemed very reluctant to let go of one another. She and Rictor had decided it was best for the little kids to stay together, while the older ones would bunk up in the smaller tents. They had put the little kids' tent somewhat in the middle of their makeshift camp, closer to the fire camp, in a position that allowed for easy defence should it come to that.  
As she was making sure the last kids were comfortable, a little voice rose up.

"Miss Rogue ?"  
"Yes, darling ?"  
"Are you mad at us, that mister Wolverine died ?"

She chuckled.

"No. I would never be mad at you for that" she said, sensing that the other kids were listening to the conversation as well.  
"He died for me too, you know ; the first time on Liberty Island. So I would never be mad at you for him choosing to protect you. I am sad that he died, yes… But it was his choice to save you."  
When she saw the surprised gaze of the child, she kept going.  
"If his healing factor was failing… he still would have died, at some point. Lo… Wolverine was very good at getting into trouble." She chuckled "But he wasn't that good at getting out of it without bloodshed. And with the professor… I'm happy he was able to find you and protect you."  
She stroked the child's hair, and crawled out of the tent, wishing them goodnight as she zipped the door back up, and went to sit with the other kids around the camp fire.

"I have to go find him"  
"Why ?"  
"We are mutants. He was unique. He still is. And the adamentium… it is too dangerous to be left out there. If these men get their hands on it… I don't want them to figure out how to use it."

Rictor and Laura nod in synch, and the little girl gets up.  
"I go with you"  
"No."

Laura raises her eyebrow like her father used to, making Rogue smile.

"I want you to stay safe. Out there, it is not. Stay here, and protect them."  
"No"  
"Yes, Laura."

Marie walks up to Laura, who fixes her with eyes that could kill, and crouches in front of her.

"Chiquitita… I can't protect them and him at the same time."  
"I'll help you protect him then"  
"But who will protect them ? I would take you with me if I could, but they need you."

Laura frowns, pondering on the proper course of action, before nodding.

"Be careful."  
"Always"

Marie rises, and kisses Laura on the forehead, before doing the same to Rictor.

"If you sense anything that is not me, run. I will find you, so don't take any risks."

And with that, Marie walks to the tree line, and disappears in the forest, Rictor and Laura watching her break into a run towards the lake where they had left Logan.

After a couple of hours, Marie arrives to the lake, and immediately spots the place where the kids had left the Wolverine's body.

"Oh, Logan…"

She pauses in front of the rock pile, taking a few seconds to compose herself.

"You can do this, Rogue." she murmurs to herself, before kneeling and moving the heavy stones away from what they guard, Marie barely feeling their weight and ragged edges thanks to Carol's strength and invulnerability.

After some time, which seems like forever to Rogue, she finally uncovers a piece of checkered fabric. She breathes in, and pushed the last stones covering Logan's body away, revealing her lover's broken and bloodied body. She stops then, a barely audible gasp crossing her lips, hands ghosting the skin around his wounds, and the piece of wood still stuck in his chest.

"Logan…"

Her hands caress his face, his hair, reacquainting themselves with the familiar but oh so different shapes. He looks older, his healing factor barely keeping him from dying of adamentium poisoning after Xavier's outburst and M-Day, unable to keep his youthful looks and restore him to health.

"If only you had let us help…"

She braces herself, and removes the piece of wood from his chest, the makeshift stake pulling away easily with her super strength, leaving Logan's body with a sickening gargle noise and a hole in the indestructible man's chest. Marie looks at him intently then, checking one last time, in one last hope, if his healing factor is kicking in. There is no breathing, no pulse, nothing to indicate that the Wolverine might rise in a growl and ask her how she has been with a grin…

« The last time you had a hole in your chest, Scott had just blasted you through a wall when he had found out about us… I still remember yelling at him while trying to find you in the rubble, and you just stood up and hugged me… and swore you'd kill him if he ever did it again… this was the worst injury I've ever seen on you… and you just healed from it. In a minute it was over. I was angry at Scott for days… But you just took him for a beer, and when you both came back, with him drunk, and late, you were hugging and laughing together… » she chuckles then, as dusk falls and the last rays on the sun light up Logan's face and make him look as if he were just asleep.  
« You and Scott… friends… who would have thought… »  
She brushes a strand of hair away from his face, still marvelled by the look of calm of peacefulness on his face, something she had not seen in a long time.  
« That day… when the professor… when Charles had his first seizure… Kitty, and I were not home. We were out, I can’t remember where, in New York. We came back, and everyone… no one was left. And you weren’t there. Charles was gone too… we just… we didn’t know what to do… So, we did what Kitty said she had been dreaming about seeing herself do… I don’t know how, but she managed to take me back. She had this look of pure concentration, and she was so careful about when she was sending me back… I arrived an hour before Charles had his seizure. I warned the others, and we managed to get a lot of them out of the school… But… I don’t know… I don’t understand how, or why, but you just… you weren’t seeing me. You caught a glimpse of me when I was looking for you, right before Charles had his seizure, and when it happened I was yanked back by Kitty to my own body… and the two of you were still gone. I can’t… Logan I’m so sorry I couldn’t warn you… I should have gotten you out first… or injected Charles with a dosage, or… or… »

Marie feels a hand on her shoulder, and sniffles before looking to the owner of the hand. A blue, friendly and furry face greats her, and she launches herself at Hank, tackling the crouched Beast to the ground by doing so, letting the tears fall freely into the dark blue fur of her friend.


End file.
